Secondary 1 - Unit 3 lesson 2 Ex. 5 - Listening

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Today millions of people  know Charles Dickens for the brilliant books that he wrote. He was a great storyteller. But Dickens didn't only want to entertain people with his books, he also wanted to change their opinions about the world they lived in. He hoped his readers would then do something to make the world a better place. Dickens was most interested in helping poor children because of his own difficult childhood. When he was 12 years old, Charles' father was sent to prison. Dickens had to leave school and work to support his family instead. The Poor Law of 1834 removed support for most poor people, so their lives were hard. When he wrote David Copperfield between 1849 and 1850, Dickens wanted to show people that not all  poor people were bad. Like his father, Mr Micawber went to prison because he had no money but after he left prison, he wanted to help David and made Uriah Heep give aunt Betsey her money back. He also wanted to say that rich people needed to do something to help the poor. In the book Mr Wickfield helps David by giving him a room. Dickens thought that people like Mr Wickfield were honest and good and deserved to be rewarded. People like Uriah Heep, on the other hand, were bad and had an unhappy end.